The Lineup
LearnAboutWine.com, the Los Angeles–based wine education platform founded in 1995, has unveiled a five-event series of ultra-premium collector dinners spanning fall 2026 into early 2027. Each dinner is capped at 8 to 14 guests, structured around blind tastings of historically significant vintages, and hosted at marquee fine-dining venues across the city. The format—side-by-side comparison flights paired with multi-course seasonal menus—targets serious collectors and hospitality professionals seeking rare pours in a convivial, expert-led setting.
Sommelier Director Ian Blackburn, who has led wine education and event production since 1995, frames the series around wines that rarely leave private cellars. "The ability to taste them side by side and blind is the experience," Blackburn says. "When wines are revealed, we love to hear the sound of applause and celebration." The approach underscores a broader trend in premium beverage programming where experiential scarcity—strict guest limits, unicorn labels, single-night formats—drives both demand and price justification.
The Events
The first dinner, scheduled for September 10 at 71Above on the 71st floor of a downtown Los Angeles skyscraper, pits Pétrus (1983 and 1975 vintages) against a blind horizontal of 2000 First Growths. Executive Chef Javier Lopez leads the culinary program at 71Above, which returns as a host venue for the October 8 Great Burgundy Dinner as well. That event is limited to 14 guests and features all 10 expressions from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti—spanning 9 Grand Crus and 1 Premier Cru—with an estimated combined retail value of $70,000.
September 24 brings the Cult Wine Dinner to the Belvedere Restaurant at The Peninsula Beverly Hills, where Executive Chef Luis Cuadra oversees the culinary program. Just 8 guests will share 9 wines from Harlan Estate, Screaming Eagle, and Scarecrow. On December 3, Providence—one of two three-Michelin-Star restaurants in Los Angeles—hosts a Sine Qua Non dinner for eight guests, with eight courses paired to at least eight wines including vintages from Jean-Louis Chave and Austrian producer Alois Kracher. Providence's Executive Chef and proprietor Michael Cimarusti, recipient of the 2019 James Beard Award for Best Chef: West, directs the kitchen. The series closes February 25, 2027, back at 71Above, with a Vega Sicilia vertical hosted alongside the estate's worldwide ambassador, Dennis Fassett.
Why It Matters for Operators
For restaurant and hospitality professionals, the LearnAboutWine series illustrates how fine-dining venues can activate private dining spaces through curated third-party partnerships rather than in-house event programming alone. Hosting a sold-out eight-seat dinner anchored by $70,000 worth of wine fills an intimate room on a weeknight, generates no food-cost risk for the venue, and elevates the property's association with collector-tier clientele. The model is particularly relevant as high-end restaurant operators look to diversify revenue streams beyond traditional covers while deepening relationships with luxury guests.
Blackburn's dinners also reflect the sustained appetite for experiential wine programming in the U.S. market, where access to aged Grand Cru Burgundy or cult Napa Cabernet—rather than simply ownership—has become a differentiating hospitality offering. The Vega Sicilia dinner adds an on-site retail component, allowing guests to purchase estate wines directly during the event, a model that blurs the line between fine dining and private wine acquisition.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
